As expected, the four-day holiday weekend was a shot in the arm for the domestic box office, allowing a year that has been hit-and-miss at best to end on a strong note. Not every new release was a hit, but most of the new titles performed exceptionally and many of the older films saw an impressive surge in their numbers. However, the really interesting battle was for the second place slot, as ‘Unbroken’ and ‘Into the Woods’ fought for the right to be the runner-up to ‘The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies.’

'Unbroken' is director Angelina Jolie's tribute to Louis Zamperini, a former Olympic runner and veteran who endured the unfathomable experience of becoming imprisoned at a POW camp during WWII. His story is one for the ages, made ever more emotional due to the man's recent death at the age of 97, and the latest 'Unbroken' trailer previews his harrowing journey from rebel to champion to survivor.

People love watching famous people accept trophies. So, every so often, The Huffington Post’s Chris Rosen and ScreenCrush’s Mike Ryan will speculate about these trophies and which famous person might win one. It will be fun. Let’s talk some trophies! Today, we discuss Angelina Jolie's ‘Unbroken,’ Tim Burton's ‘Big Eyes,’ the recent critic awards results, and why there is STILL no Best Picture Frontrunner.

Maybe not every story about the sheer determination of the human spirit over impossible odds needs to be a movie. This was my thought while watching Angelina Jolie’s ‘Unbroken,’ the true story of Louis Zamperini (played by rising star Jack O’Connell), a World War II hero who is brutally beaten to within an inch of his life in a Japanese prisoner of war camp so many times that I lost count. The real life story is inspiring—and it truly is remarkable that he survived—but to watch it play out in front of your eyes over and over and over again almost feels sadistic. It gets to the point that every time we see O’Connell on screen, we automatically think, “I bet this poor man is going to get beaten again, isn’t he?” And we are always right.

In cinematic circles, there are a few names for this time of year. Awards-minded individuals call the fall “Oscar season” because this is when the campaigning for little gold men gets particularly hot and heavy. The late film critic Roger Ebert used to call it “good movie season,” because the byproduct of all that campaigning was all of the studios’ most promising and intellectually stimulating titles getting released together in the span of two months. In recent years, I’ve started to call the fall by a different name: Biopic season, because barely a week goes by without a new biographical film.

http://youtu.be/M48tvsfpIewThe first preview for Angelina Jolie's latest directorial effort, 'Unbroken,' premiered during the 2014 Winter Olympics today -- appropriate, as the story of her latest film follows an Olympian who tragically becomes a prisoner of war during World War II. And it looks to be pretty inspirational stuff from the sophomore director and A-list actress, whose debut film, 'In the Land of Blood and Honey,' also told a harrowing and inspirational story.

Angelina Jolie's latest project just got way more interesting. Her second directorial effort will come with a script from Oscar winners Joel and Ethan Coen, as they've just been hired to re-write Jolie's upcoming film 'Unbroken.'

Though she is one of the most beautiful and talented actresses working today, Angelina Jolie seems more interested in working behind the scenes of late. Her directorial debut 'In The Land Of Blood And Honey' may have got lost in 2011's year-end awards shuffle, but she's locked up her next project, which isn't '50 Shades of Grey' as was once rumored.